Now, its several years later, and I’ve mostly abandoned Clen for my own personal use, and actually recommend Albuterol (Salbutamol) as a much better alternative. Albuterol is a (relatively) selective beta-2 adrenoreceptor agonist, just like Clenbuterol. Honestly, I had pretty much given up on Clen a couple of years ago because for my own personal reasons (I had experienced much better results with Ephedrine and Caffeine). Then, a couple of weeks ago, I tried my first bottle of Albuterol, mostly out of curiosity…and wow! I like it much more than Clenbuterol. I mentioned this fact to my research assistant, and she told me that a lot of figure competitors also prefer Albuterol over Clenbuterol. I had no idea about that, but based on the effects I had with Albuterol I can see why. Clen is simply too harsh on most people; they get too jittery, too shaky, and too anxious. It’s a lot to go through to burn some fat.

But in my own personal experience, Albuterol produces a much “cleaner” type of stimulant effect than Clenbuterol. I don’t know how to really describe this other than to say that the “Clen-shakes” just aren’t as bad with Albuterol…in addition, I’m able to focus better on my work when I use Albuterol, while with Clen I’m stimulated but not really focused.

But even though Albuterol produces a much cleaner stimulant-type feeling in most people, the main question is “How well does it burn fat”? As far as fat-burning stimulants go, how does it stack up to Clenbuterol? Lets face it, most people are really only concerned with the end results, right? Well, at least in me and the people I’ve worked with, Albuterol seems to produce significantly better results than Clen in terms of fat burning effects…and it produces them just a bit more quickly too. This makes sense, if you think about it. Albuterol is often thought of as a “shorter acting” version of Clen…and, to draw an analogy, when we look at the steroids which are shorter acting versions (think about comparing something like Testosterone Propionate vs./ Cypionate, or NPP vs./ Deca)- they typically produce more dramatic results a bit quicker than their long acting cousins. I’m finding the same thing to be true with Albuterol. When we take a look at a medical study examining Clenbuterol vs. a beta-2 agonist which has an even longer half life (“Salmeterol”), we see that Clen out performs it in terms of anabolic effects (1). So I think it would only be logical to assume that something that was a shorter acting beta-2 agonist than Clen would likely outperform it, right?

Let me just restate that, to make sure we’re all on the same page, ok? Clenbuterol outperforms longer acting beta-2 agonists, in terms of anabolic effects. Albuterol is a beta-2 agonist with a shorter acting effect than Clenbuterol. Therefore, it’s only logical that Albuterol is going to be more anabolic than Clen, right? Ok, let’s move on…

To understand how Albuterol works, first we need to take a look at the Beta adrenergic system. This system is comprised of something called adrenoreceptors, and the most well known (to bodybuilders anyway) of the adrenoreceptors are the beta receptors. Beta receptors are embedded in the cell’s outer phospholipid membrane, and are stimulated by all the really popular stimulants…ephedrine, Clenbuterol, etc… These receptors can further be divided into three subtypes: 1, 2, & 3, (of which we are primarily concerned with type-2, because the type-3 variety seems to primarily be less relevant in humans than in other animals, and because Albuterol doesn’t stimulate the type-1 receptor). There also exists a type of receptor known as an alpha receptor, which isn’t relevant here, but warrants a brief explanation.

Alpha receptors differ from beta receptors in that they are activated at significantly lower catecholamine levels than are the beta receptors. A catecholamine is simply an organic compound that affects the sympathetic nervous system. For example, dopamine, norepinephrine and epinephrine are all catecholamines.

We are, as I said previously, mostly concerned with Beta-2 receptors, because those are what we see stimulated with Albuterol. It should come as no surprise to anyone who has used Clenbuterol as well as Albuterol is that when you stimulate your beta receptors, it causes something called vasodilatation (increased blood flow). Stimulation of these receptors also stimulates the break down of fatty acids into the blood stream for use as fuel, which causes a reduction in stored fat. Of course, this increased blood flow also comes with an increased heart rate.

This explains how Beta-2 adrenergic stimulation can also increase your body temperature a bit…however this isn’t something that’s too noticeable on a thermometer…most people will feel a bit hotter, and some will even break a sweat (I fall into the latter category). Beta-agonists work to do this by increasing heat production in the cell’s powerhouse, the mitochondria, which will also increase your basal metabolic rate, and decrease your appetite. Not too many people feel hungry after a whopping dose of stimulants.